Angels and Men
by concisponci
Summary: The Smash Tournament's back on, and several newcomers join the Smashers. But when strange things start happening and dark entities become real, only a select few are left unaffected and try to put an end to the horror.
1. Chapter 1

**So after two years of not posting anything, I finally decided to publish a story. Not ****without help from a friend of mine, FlameFalcon. He's an amazing writer and has written some awesome stories so make sure to check out his profile.** **I gave this story an 'M' rating because of the violence that is still to come in later chapters.**

**Enjoy!**

"...and may thy wisdom, Nayru, protect and give me strength."

She wasn't finished yet, but the annoying sound of a stiletto heel constantly tapping on the floor made Zelda want to burn the person responsible for it. Still on her knees, she flew around, fury in her eyes.

"Could you finally stop that, for Din's sake?!"

"What, no reason to get cocky, dear" Peach said and ignored Zelda's request. "We've been in here for, like, fifteen minutes and the welcoming party begins any minute now."

"Well, just go without me then, Peach! There won't be any time left for me to pray today and I really want to do this before the season begins."

Peach crossed her arms and leaned back on the bench, but her pink heel ceased tapping on the floor. "Make it quick."

The hylian gave her blonde friend a sour smile and turned back around to continue her prayers to the Golden Goddesses.

"Oh eww, look at that, there's some kind of stain on my shoe!"

"Peach!"

The two princesses arrived just seconds before Master Hand jumped up on the stage, positioned himself in front of the microphone and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. The Smashers fell silent.

"Welcome to the new term, everyone", the Hand spoke. "Some of you I have been here before, some of you haven't. I am very excited to have all of you here and proud to say that every Smasher from last season is back, and I especially want to welcome back somebody who hasn't been here in almost two years but decided to join us- again. Welcome back, Roy!"

Everyone turned to the prince, whose face turned almost as red as his hair, and started cheering. Zelda clapped and smiled too, but she didn't really know the guy. Peach had told her stories about Roy, apparently she didn't like him very much. Zelda decided to introduce herself to the prince later and see for herself. As a matter of fact, she would introduce herself to every single one of the newcomers, just like proper princess etiquette required, and as Master Hand went on and on about the upcoming tournaments and events, Zelda grabbed an info sheet from a nearby table and started studying the names of the newcomers.

Almost an hour later, Master Hand was done with the talking (but he had to cut his speech short because Crazy Hand, in a corner in the back of the room, had been jumping up and down for half an hour and started to get on everyone's nerves).

Peach materialized in front of her friend and handed her a glass filled with red wine, which Zelda gladly accepted. The blonde explained that she wanted to talk to Marth just for a second, but Zelda knew better than that. The second Peach had vanished in the crowd, Zelda turned on her heel looked out for one of the newcomers. She was pretty sure she wouldn't see Peach again tonight. Suddenly, she felt someone pushing her from behind and a pair of hands covered her eyes. "Guess who?" someone chuckled and Zelda's eyebrow went up.

"Link."

"Nope", Link said and a much lighter chuckle rung out next to Zelda's pointed ear.

"Midna?"

"Correct!" Midna took her hands off Zelda's eyes and stepped in front of her friend. Her eyes were full of glee as they looked around the room. "I'm so glad to be here, I just arrived half an hour ago and didn't have time to unpack or even see the place! Link said he's going to show me around after the party-"

"Yeah", Link said, and all Zelda could do was hug the Twili Princess hard in order to shut her up. Midna gladly wrapped her arms around her friend. They hadn't seen each other since the mirror, the portal between their realms, had shattered into pieces, which was almost two years ago. Midna didn't look much different, and Zelda was looking orward to spend some time together. After a few more words, Link pulled Midna away to introduce her to some Smashers and and thus, Zelda was left alone, again.

"Hi!", someone said behind her and the brunette almost jumped in fright. She turned around to face a red-headed young man, beaming at her. "I'm Roy. You must be Zelda?"

He took her hand in his and kissed it. "Princess regent of Hyrule, it is my honor to make your acquaintance. I have heard a lot about you and cannot wait to meet you on the battlefield."

Zelda smiled gracefully. Peach had told her Roy was 'stupid' and 'annoying', but so far, he didn't seem like that at all. "Likewise" she said, but before she could continue, he interrupted her.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm looking for Peach." And off he went.

Some time later, Zelda was sitting at one of the tables in the room, very content with herself for having introduced herself to almost all of the newcomers. The info sheet in front of her, she was crossing off the names of the people she had met.

"Krystal- check." Krystal was Fox McCloud's long-time girlfriend and incredibly interesting to talk to. As far as Zelda could tell that was, because unfortunately, she didn't get to talk to the vixen as much as she would've wanted to since Wolf had come out of nowhere and started talking to them. It was clear that Krystal and Wolf already knew each other and had gotten lost in their conversation while totally forgetting about the confused princess and a very jealous Fox, who had chosen to stand in a corner with a drink in each hand and stare Wolf down instead of joining their conversation. "Very effective", Zelda mumbled.

"Knuckles- check, Amy- check" Sonic had introduced Zelda to the red echidna and the pink hedgehog after Roy had so suddenly left in search of Peach. Amy Rose was a very sweet girl and constantly reminded everyone around her how glad she was to be part of the Smashers now, and while Sonic had smiled and laughed at most of Amy's jokes, Zelda had found his smile to be clenched whenever the pink hedgehog was close to him- so basically the whole time, since their arms were linked and Amy seemingly refused to let go of Sonic, dragging him around the room. Knuckles however was a rather silent fellow who let Amy to all the talking and socializing. He had pulled a very serious face and his answers to Zelda's questions had turned out to be very taciturn. But that didn't bother Zelda. The Smashers really were a weird bunch of people, and she had gotten used to almost all of their weird customs and habits.

Knuckles' name obviously came from the two spike-like knuckles on his hands, which made it obvious that he wasn't to be messed with. Zelda decided that he'd fit in here very well.

There were two people left on the list, and the hylian princess spotted one of them standing at the bar, getting a drink. Jumping up, Zelda stuffed the piece of paper in her pocket and made her way over to the girl with the silver hair, who saw her coming. A lovely smile appeared on the girl's face when Zelda introduced herself.

"Princess Zelda? I'm honored. Your name seems so familiar... I think someone mentioned you before, one of the Smashers..."

"May that have been Link? An elf all dressed in green?"

The girl's face turned a crimson shade. "Ah, yes, that's his name! Oh, how embarrassing, I already forgot his name, please don't tell him." Zelda laughed, assuring that Link would never hear it from her, when the girl blushed even harder. "By Yune, where are my manners? My name is Micaiah, fifteenth Queen of Daein."

"Yes, I- I know."

"You do?" Micaiah looked puzzled.

"Yes, I, uh, read the info sheet" Zelda said, and Micaiah's eyes widened when she finally got it. This could easily turn into an awkward situation, and Zelda wanted to avoid that at all cost, when all of a sudden a young man materialised next to Micaiah. His light brown eyes pierced the Princess as if she was some kind of serial murderer, sent shivers down her spine. Upon realising his presence, Micaiah smiled and put a slender hand on the man's shoulder. "Zelda, may I introduce you to my husband, Sothe? Sothe, this is Zelda, Princess regent of Hyrule."

Sothe merely nodded and kissed Zelda's hand before inching a little closer to Micaiah. "Sothe, dear, I'll be fine. Why don't you go and talk a little to Lord Ike?" Without a word, Sothe complied and wandered off to where Zelda presumed Ike had to be, but not without sending her one last sharp look. Micaiah cleared her throat, and Zelda turned back to her. "You must excuse my husband, he's very protective of me."

"Of course, I understand. He must love you dearly."

"Oh, that he does. But it's not just that, I... I haven't been queen for long now, and he's still rather concerned about assassination attempts and such, you know. We led the liberation and these things happened all the time, day after day. It's been a hard decision to leave for the Smash Mansion but ultimately, it was actually Sothe who convinced me. So I can get more experience in fighting and defending myself."

Zelda nodded. If Micaiah needed practice, that had probably been a very wise choice. The hylian smiled, encouraging the silver-haired woman. "He will not regret it, and neither will you. But Daein and Crimea are both on Tellius, aren't they?"

Micaiah nodded in confirmation, but her brows furrowed a little, as if she knew what would come.

"You must know Ike then. Have you already met him?"

The young woman downed her glass of wine (which, to be honest, caught Zelda a little off guard) and shook her head. "I did not see Lord Ike yet."

Her mouth smiled but her eyes didn't, and Zelda wondered whether she might have just imagined it, but Daein's Queen's fingers suddenly clenched the glass she was holding so hard that Zelda knew something might be off there. And it immediately sparked her interest, but being the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, Zelda knew better than to ask her new acquaintance about it. No, it was none of her concern and she would think about it no more, she told herself. Of course she would, though. And she would report to the Queen of Gossip, better known as Peach, on the next occasion. She felt bad about it already. "Oh well, there'll be enough time for that later. Come, surely you haven't met Peach yet and I believe your room is next to hers. Maybe we can find her and I'll introduce you two."

They did not find the Mushroom Princess, but that did not further surprise Zelda. Instead, they met Marth who was extremely delighted to have another member of royalty in the mansion. He started to go on and on about Tellius, so obviously proud and eager to boast about his knowledge of the continent. The source of this knowledge was clearly the book Ike had given him for his birthday, Zelda assumed, and felt a little ashamed to know almost nothing about Tellius. But Micaiah seemed to be a little uncomfortable in the feminine prince's presence, so Zelda pulled her away from Marth when he stopped talking for a moment and looked around for a glass of champagne. Completely oblivious to the situation though, Marth quickly found the girls again and continued his history lesson, until Sothe came back and scared the prince away with a sharp look.

He didn't seem to be as sullen as before.

Zelda had one last newcomer to see, though, and so she excused herself and headed to the main entrance. Sothe's appearance had given her a good reason to leave, and as she walked away, she thought about the new faces. All of them were nice company, but she really had hit it off with Micaiah. The girl seemed to be shy but she was a delight to talk to and had quickly opened up to Zelda after they'd been conversing for a while. She could of course not ignore the fact that Micaiah was currently the head of an entire nation, which automatically made her and Zelda share the same interests. The hylian princess quietly smiled to herself and continued walking down the hall. 'Gabriel Van Helsing', opposite to the other newcomers, had apparently not attended the party, and he was in none of the several living rooms in the mansion. Zelda had no idea where his room might be, but she wouldn't dare to boldly knock on his door. If he really was in there, he probably didn't want any company. But she didn't check in the gardens and the training halls yet, and with a determined push, she swung the door to the balcony open. The immense garden lay in front of her, only illuminated by the moon's light, but it seemed to be empty. Of course, why should this Gabriel Van Helsing even stroll around in the garden at night?

Zelda turned around and wanted to go back inside, when at the end of the huge balcony, another door opened and someone stepped outside. The figure stopped dead in his tracks and eyed the Princess, clearly having trouble recognising her in the dim light.

"Zelda?" She was a little disappointed to identify the owner of the voice as Ike. She had hoped for the newcomer.

Still, she had not expected anyone out here and quickly shook off her initial confusion, as she walked towards him. "Yeah. What are you doing here?"

"Getting some fresh air."

For a moment they stood in silence until Zelda realised that Ike wouldn't return the question. He simply didn't care what she was doing here at such late hour. Just when she wanted to say goodnight and go back inside and he made a move to go down the steps to the garden, something came to her mind.

"Ike?"

"Yeah?" He turned around and looked at her inquisitively.

"Micaiah doesn't seem to be very fond of you. Why is that?"

"Micaiah?" His inky eyes had a look of confusion, but it was gone after a second. "Shouldn't you be wise enough not to put your nose in other people's business?"

Touché. Of course she should, and the only thing that saved her from complete embarrassment was Snake, who showed up behind Ike and spoke before Zelda had a chance to.

"Got it, man. You comin'? Princess", he added and nodded as he acknowledged her presence. One of these things he regularly kept importing from his world, a 'cigar', if she recalled correctly, was hanging from Snake's lips, and he handed another one to Ike before walking past Zelda towards the garden. Without another word, Ike followed him and was soon swallowed by the night.

Well, that had been awkward. She shouldn't have asked Ike and knowing that he was rather blunt, she should have expected that kind of answer. Anyway, if Van Helsing wasn't in one of the training rooms, she'd go to bed, she decided. The party had turned out to be rather lame and Peach was nowhere to be found. With quick steps, Zelda approached the training rooms and quickly checked in three of them, which were all empty, before approaching the fourth. She stopped in front of the door and listened for a moment- it sounded like someone was inside, exercising. She opened the door until the gap was just big enough for her to see a figure, standing with its back to her. The man was in a long black cloak and had black, very short, chopped off hair. But she couldn't see his face, and he seemed to be getting a rest from training or whatever he had been doing, so she decided to push the door open and meet the man face to face.

The second she stepped in the room, a throwing knife dripping with water landed in the wall just inches away from her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Now I know that I didn't update in a while but rest assured, I will always update eventually. I am just very lazy (how flattering) and extremely busy because University started and if you've ever been a fresher- you probably know it's complicated. If you're planning to _be _a fresher- consider yourself warned.**

**So I have no idea if anyone cares, but I'm just saying.**

**And thanks again to Flame Falcon who is really amazing and keeps inspiring me and also to Purple Mercenary who also reviewed the last chapter.**

**Now read it. Go crazy.**

Gabriel Van Helsing blinked twice. That was not an enemy in front of him. He was always expecting the unexpected but still he certainly did not expect that. No, in front of him was a very pretty girl with terror in her pretty blue eyes, and all of a sudden Gabriel didn't know what to do. He didn't normally almost pierce pretty innocent girls to the wall.

He didn't have to do anything, because after the initial shock, the girl looked as if she'd spit fire and the terror in her eyes was replaced by fury.  
With a quick movement, she ripped the knife out of the wall and furiously threw it somewhere in Gabriel's general direction, obviously not aiming directly at him.

"How do you DARE? Are you insane? You don't show up at the party, I take it upon me to look for you throughout the whole mansion and when I finally find you, YOU THROW A KNIFE AT ME? WHAT were you thinking?"

Gabriel raised a gloved hand in an attempt to calm her down. "I wasn't thinking, I-"

"You weren't thinking?" Shit, wrong answer, the girl got even more furious. "I don't know what you are trying to tell me, but once Master Hand learns about this, and don't get me started about Link-"

"Nononono, no! No! I'm a hunter, okay? That were instincts, you just showed up without warning and my instincts reacted before my brain did." She looked as if he had calmed her down a bit, but she still stood in front of the door with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "I'm sorry" he added, hesitantly.

That seemed to satisfy the girl. She smoothed down her silky brown hair and coughed slightly. "Apology accepted", she said, "so I take it you are Gabriel Van Helsing?"

Just then, Gabriel realised that he was holding about three other knives in his hands and quickly put them back in their sheaths which were hanging from his belt, concealed by the long black cloak he always wore. "I am." The small knife she had thrown still lay on the ground, and he made a few steps towards it to pick it up. If it was up to him, the conversation was over.

She coughed again. "I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Although you, accidentally, almost pierced my face, it's a pleasure to meet you, Gabriel."  
"Likewise." He was forced to say something, and she obviously didn't want to leave, because she closed the door behind her and gave him an expectant look, which Gabriel pretended not to notice.

"So. You are a hunter? What kind of hunter?"

"Demon hunter", Gabriel said, reluctantly.

Zelda walked over to a small bench in the training room, sat down and put her hands in her lap. "And where are you from, Gabriel?"

"England."

"Ah, Snake's home world?"

"Who?"

"Never mind", she said. Better not start talking about bad influences. "When did you arrive? I didn't see you attending the welcoming party, and I know I would have noticed you."

Gabriel looked at her, confused. "You would?"

"Of course. You're a newcomer. You stand out of the crowd."

Gabriel didn't like standing out of the crowd, but at the same time it was difficult not to, given his appearance (he was perfectly aware of that). Or, rather, he simply didn't care. About his appearance, about what other people thought of him. And yet, he found himself being surprisingly self-conscious in the presence of this girl he'd just met. While her bright blue eyes were still fixed on him, he scratched his head.

"You don't like parties, do you?", Zelda asked him to keep the conversation going.

"Don't know. Too many people in one room, besides, I don't really know anyone."

"But that's just the point of this party- to get to know each other!" Gabriel did not respond and Zelda clapped her hands together. "Now you do know someone, though- me! And you know what, you may not like parties- or maybe people in general" she quickly added under he breath, "but how about I take you to the festivities and introduce you to everyone? I can assure you, all of the Smashers are very friendly and of course we have our black sheep, but doesn't everyone?"  
Gabriel was at loss what to say- the Princess obviously was very talkative, her flood of words made up for his silence with ease. Obviously she'd forgiven and forgotten about the stunt he'd pulled before, and her face lit up with excitement as she mused how she'd introduce him to some kiddo named Peach (he was trying hard to listen but she was talking so fast).

Zelda rushed back to the door, hoping he'd follow her out of the room to the party, but Gabriel held his position. She cracked the door open and gestured for him to join her. "Come on, it'll be fun! It's just up the-"- her sensitive pointed ears had detected two familiar voices from down the hall and she violently shut the door shut.

"Is everything alright?" Gabriel finally dared to ask.

The brunette stood with her back to the door and smiled sweetly. "Why, of course it is, dear. I just figured, since you don't seem to be very fond of parties, I am certainly not going to force you to socialise."

"Thank you." Well, that wasn't the answer she'd expected. Gabriel turned around and walked over to a bag of supplies.

He seemed to be a nice fellow, Zelda thought, so better not immediately expose him to the gang of dim-wits who were wandering around the corridors. No, better keep him company and introduce him to people like Link or Marth, she figured. Take him under her wing. In fact, the best idea ever popped up in her head. She walked over to him and patiently waited for him to finish searching whatever he was looking for in his bag.

He turned around to face her and instinctively, his hand gripped one of the knives at his side. "Whoa" he stuttered, and nervously took a step back. She was way too close.

"Gabriel, do you have a mentor?" Zelda asked him.

"A what?"

"Someone to take you under their wing, to help you through the first weeks of life in the Mansion."

He narrowed his eyes, thinking for a moment. "I'm not sure. The big hand might have assigned someone to do this but I didn't talk to him since he showed me my room."

"Master Hand" she corrected him and kept smiling. "Well, if you haven't heard from him, maybe that means you don't have a mentor. Listen, how about I take that upon myself?"

"If you want to."

She'd not expected him to burst with enthusiasm, but such a stoic answer didn't meet her expectations either. "I would show you around, introduce you to everyone, explain the training schedule and plenty of other stuff. Would you be fine with me doing that?"

"I wouldn't mind."

Alright. That should suffice, she thought to herself. After all, they'd only met a few minutes ago and Zelda was positive he'd warm up to her and the Smash Mansion if she gave gave it some time, if he gave it some time. He was just another newcomer, he'd learn to like the Mansion. They always did.  
And suddenly Zelda remembered the first time she stepped foot on the Mansion's grounds and how different and new everything was, outright scary. It seemed like yesterday, she hadn't even been twenty years old at that time. She remembered how enraged she had been not to get a room of her own but being forced to shared it with a blonde girl (who'd arrived the day before and already decorated the entire room with pink stuff, much to Zelda's dismay) who was named after a fruit and claimed to be the Princess of a 'mushroom kingdom'. Oh, how annoyed Zelda had been. Ripping all the pink banners and posters off the walls, she had sent a death glare to Peach, who seemed not to give a damn about what Zelda thought of her, and put up a huge violet curtain in the middle of the room in order to create some personal space. Funny that the curtain fell down at least a dozen times a day and Peach quickly turned out to best the best friend Zelda had ever had.

Or how in the beginning, Link always helped her out with the training in between sessions because she felt like she wasn't yet good enough to seriously compete with the other Smashers (she got her royal butt kicked badly in her first brawls). Now she was the best mage in the Mansion.  
And that was even before Master Hand had come up with the whole 'mentor' idea. Zelda felt confident that Gabriel would find his place here in due time and as an experienced Smasher, it was her job to help him. Oh, and how she was up to it.

Unfortunately for Zelda, the next morning, her hopes were pretty much right away tossed out of the window.

She had spent the evening talking to Gabriel (yes, talking to him, not with him, because it had been her who did all of the talking) asking him about his life, his family, his weapons. She couldn't say that she'd learned much about him. His answers were taciturn and sometimes, he hadn't even bothered to answer at all, but he seemed like a good kid (of course he wasn't literally a kid anymore. After five minutes of consistent asking, he'd finally told her he'd be 20 in some weeks), and he seemed to be shy around new people. Zelda felt a little bad having harassed him with thousands of questions- it was the Peach thing to do. Her best friend always attacked new people with questions, and to her amazement, Zelda had realised that the method was good. Of course, it didn't work with everyone, but in general, Peach had always managed to make shy people- well, less shy by asking them a lot of questions and talking, talking, talking. And after a while, Gabriel's answers had been less taciturn.

Not bad.

So when she thought his ears and her mouth were about to fall off, she'd checked if the corridor was clear and asked him anew whether he wanted to come join the party with her. Gabriel still didn't seem very enthusiastic so Zelda decided to give the guy a break and left him alone.

Back at the party, Zelda thought she'd stepped into a new dimension. Everyone seemed to have a blast (she couldn't tell if it was for the actual party of the excessive amount of various beverages on the tables). Constantly switching between playing the DJ and pulling off sick breakdance moves on the dance floor, Sonic seemed to have even more admirers than usual, female and male alike. Peach and Marth were sitting in a dark corner and probably admiring each other's hair and outfits. Micaiah was vividly talking to Ganondorf and even Sothe (still next to his wife), with a bottle of beer in his hand, seemed to crack a smile now and then. Link was crying of laughter as he watched Pit, and both of them had clearly drunk enough, fly against one wall after another. And Captain Falcon -and Zelda came just in time to angrily prevent it and give the Captain a long but completely futile lecture because he'd forget about it first thing in the morning- amused himself with spiking the drinks of Lucas and Ness.

The Captain however (clearly drunk) kept making a fool of himself in front of Popo, Nana, Ness and Lucas, who thoroughly enjoyed watching the not-so-grown-up do stupid things, and for the children's sake, Zelda stayed at the party until late in the night. At some point, Captain Falcon had probably enough of playing the fool and left for the gardens.

Zelda decided to tuck the children in who immediately fell asleep the second she turned off the lights in their rooms, and after a quick shower, she went to bed herself.

And around nine in the morning, she was back in her and Peach's shared room, sitting on her bed and fuming. She hated not getting her will.

Of course, Zelda was modest. Under no circumstances could one say Hyrule's Princess was spoiled, selfish, mean, or even worse, not generous or grateful. No, she was by all means a sweet and good girl.

However, she hated it when someone dismissed her ideas. And she hated it even more, when someone dismissed an idea of hers that she thought was excellent, and that's exactly what had happened in Master Hand's office.

That morning, she woke up at seven and after a quick look across the room, beholding the loudly snoring Peach with smudgy make-up and completely messed up blonde hair, Zelda guessed that her friend must have been sleeping for two hours at most. Wow, that must have been quite the party.

However, she did not regret having missed half of it (she would later on, though only because Peach's constant raving about how amazing it was would really grind her gears) and jumped out of bed, completely refreshed and ready to start the day.

Dressed in a chic skirt, a white blouse and cute sandals, she walked up to Master Hand's office and knocked at the door.

"Come in", she heard Master Hand say, and so she did.

After he'd told her what an honour and pleasure it was to have the Princess back at the Smash Mansion and after she had equally drowned him in compliments, she smoothly changed the subject to this year's newcomers.

"- which reminds me, while I was talking to Gabriel Van Helsing, -"

"Ah yes, a valuable addition, the boy."

"Yes, anyway, he happened to mention that you, Sir, did not assign him a mentor yet. Or at least, he doesn't know whether you did or not."

"Well, Princess,", Master Hand said, leaning back in his huge chair, "that's because I did indeed not assign him a mentor. Yet."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"As for now, we simply didn't have the chance to."

Zelda saw her chance, and she took it. "In that case, I have a suggestion. I have talked to Gabriel yesterday and first suggested it to him- and he said he wouldn't mind- no, in fact, he was very happy for me to make this offer. How about you assign me as his mentor, Master Hand?" Of course Gabriel had said no such thing. But Zelda decided that Master Hand did not have to know the details.

However, the big hand started drumming his fingers on the table and fell quiet. After a moment of thinking, he said "I understand, but I must reject your offer, Princess." And that seemed to be the end of it.

Zelda blinked twice. She had been so sure that he'd accept. Why shouldn't he? It had been such a good idea! "Sir, but why?"

"We usually have a… ritual. We write all of the Smasher's names on pieces of paper, throw them into a bowl and then-"

"I GET TO PICK! I GET TO PICK!" The bookshelf to Master Hand's right slid to the side and Crazy Hand burst into the room, excitedly jumping up and down. "THAT'S RIGHT, ME, ME, ME!"

Zelda loosened her grip on the armrests of her chair. Crazy Hand had scared her to death. "Has he been listening this whole time?"

Master Hand quickly pushed his brother back into the hidden, adjacent room and pushed a button, and the bookshelf slid back as if nothing had happened. He coughed slightly. "Anyway. My brother gets to pick out the names and basically, that's how we determine the mentors."

"But… Could you not make an exception? I mean, we really hit it off!"

"I don't doubt your words, my dear Princess, but when I make one exception, I'm gonna have to make another, then another, then another- you get the idea. I am afraid the answer is still no."

Which is why, after five more minutes of trying to win him over, Zelda left the room not very happy about how the day had started.

And now she sat on her bed and waited for Peach to get ready, who, as usually, took ages to do that.

"- well I'm sorry you didn't convince him, hun, but let me just say that maybe you would have had better chances if you'd worn those cute boots I got you last year. Remember, always match your shoes to your accessories."

"I don't think that would've changed anything, Peach."

"Oh, honey", Peach said while applying the fifth layer of mascara, "you'd be surprised how many arguments I've won just because my outfit was fabulous."

Zelda rolled her , because of that and because of your cleavage, she thought. But arguing with Peach was like arguing with a wall of concrete. Thus, all she said was "Are you ready? Let's go eat", because breakfast was ready and if Zelda loved anything, it was definitely food.

And so, the two Princesses soon made their way down the main stairs, heading for the dining room, when they saw Link standing in the middle of the corridor and staring at something on the wall.

The Hylian quickly heard them coming and waved them over to him. "Zel, Peachy!"

"What's up, Link? What's that you're looking at?" Zelda asked in a hurry. The sweet smell of delicious bacon had already found its way to her nose.

"I was just going to get something to eat when the Hands rushed past me, just, like, half a minute ago. Look, that's the list of the mentors this year!"

Zelda pushed him violently to the side. What? Already? Man, the hands had been quick about it! She scanned the paper for Gabriel's name- there it was. And next to it was another name, but it was not hers. And it was neither Peach's, nor Link's, nor Marth's name.

And she did not like what she saw.


End file.
